(WWJ) -- There are several things that have immediate recall for many Metro Detroiters.
The 2003 blackout. The almost-fist fight between Bill Bonds and Mayor Coleman Young. The Boblo Boat. And these days, the painfully popular Giant Slide on Belle Isle -- just to name a few.
But among all of those, there is one Metro Detroit mainstay that almost everyone is familiar with… and that’s the Uniroyal Giant Tire in Allen Park.
There’s been a lot of lore through the years surrounding the behemoth of a landmark, which towers over I-94 between the Southfield Freeway interchange and Outer Drive overpass at 80 feet tall.
But one such story has persisted since the tire was erected on Uniroyal's Allen Park property in 1966 (then the U.S. Rubber Company), after serving as a Ferris wheel at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.
The rumor? That the tire once broke loose from its perch and rolled down I-94, causing chaos.
In fact, some locals insist that they have memories of this happening, even reading about it in a very well-known Detroit newspaper in the spring of 1974.
So would you believe us if we told you that was actually true? Well…at least, part of it.
On this episode of The Daily J podcast, we explore the unique story of the Giant Tire in Allen Park, and the origins of a local myth that has continued to be passed down for over 50 years.
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